But on the day he was due to stand trial at Coventry Crown Court, he pleaded guilty to an alternative charge of causing the damage being reckless whether life would be endangered.

Walker, who had earlier pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice, was jailed for a total of three years.

So what exactly happened?

Prosecutor William Dudley said that Walker and Miss Gore had been in a relationship, and had two children together who were aged one and three at the time.

After the relationship broke down, they remained in touch to arrange contact with the children.

Mr Dudley said that in August 2014 Miss Gore was planning to take the children on holiday to France for a fortnight in her car, so on August 1 she took it to Arbury Peugeot in Leamington for a service, during which some work was done on the brakes.

She used the car the following day without any problem, but on Sunday, August 3, she was out in the car when she noticed the brakes “did not seem quite right”.

Assuming it was something resulting from the service, she decided to take it back to the garage on the Monday.

But as she continued on her way home, she noticed the brakes seemed to be getting worse – and at the roundabout by Warwick Library, they failed completely.

“Fortunately there was no collision, and she was able to get the car back home, and on the Monday she arranged for the car to be collected by Arbury Peugeot.

“When a technician looked into the problem he established that the problem was an absence of brake fluid.

“The rear nearside brake line had a clean separation, indicating it had been cut, rendering the brake system useless.”

Mr Dudley said that once that “sinister aspect” had been discovered, the police were informed and Walker was arrested.

When he was first questioned he said he was at home on the night the brake pipe had been cut, and had not gone out apart from popping to the garage.

But when he was questioned again after an ANPR camera had captured his car on a road leading to Warwick, he turned up with a diary in which he had recorded for that night ‘Jock using car.’

That was quickly disproved after the police spoke to the man he had referred to as Jock and were satisfied he had not been using Walker’s car that night – and he later admitted he had been trying to provide a false alibi.

The court heard that in an impact statement, Miss Gore said that for a time she suffered from nightmares and had trouble sleeping – and every time she gets in her car she tests the brakes before driving off.

Mr Dudley added that she was of the view that Walker had done what he did to cause her problems, and specifically to try to prevent her from going to France.

What was said in his defence before sentencing?

Lee Masters, defending, said Walker had successfully completed a community order imposed two years ago for harassment of Miss Gore.

He handed in references for Walker, and said he hoped to persuade the judge to pass a suspended sentence.

But Judge Gregory, who jailed Walker for two-and-a-half years for damaging the car, with six months consecutive for perverting the course of justice, told him the offences were too serious for anything other than immediate imprisonment.

He also imposed a restraining order banning Walker from going to Miss Gore’s home or from contacting her for five years.